Unhappy Returns
by Yaegashi Yoshiki
Summary: A murder mystery in the vein of the Rei Shimura series. When Iori returns home from studying in Hokkaido he finds something unexpected in the Ichijouji apartment.
1. Unexpected arrivials

A/N: Hmmm... It sure has been a while since I have done any "fan fiction". I have been working on fiction press more than Fanfiction.net since I am finally typing up my novel I wrote throughout High School. Anyways.. If you're wondering what in god's name inspired this one... Blame Sujata Massey... the author of the Rei Shimura series of murder mysteries. If you haven't yet... I strongly recommend picking up a copy of "The Salerymans Wife". Great book, and it only costs 7 bucks. (Also please note that the rating could drastically change! this is going to be a murder mystery... so there might be some gore.)  
  
Hida Iori smiled happily as he moved across the small park separating the several apartment buildings in the area. He had been gone from Odaiba for the last three years since his grandfather had thought he could use more training in a kendo academy in Hokkaido (The second largest Japanese island and also the least populated due it's nearly year round cold climate... also where Sapporo is located... along with most of Japans skiing resorts). He looked up at the tall apartment building that he had finally come to and sighed softly. It had been several years since he had been into the Ichijouji apartment (Yep... one of the Ichijouji's gets the dubious honor of dying for my fic... their sacrifice will not be forgotten.) He was apprehensive about seeing Ken again after such a long period of time, but he also wanted to make this his second reunion, after his own family of course. He had even purposely moved out of his parent's apartment to avoid being too close to his old friends, preferring to attempt to maintain his independence as long as possible.  
  
The last three years had been reasonably good for Hida Iori, as his body had grown out and had been toned from long years of kendo training. He now stood at five feet six inches and he had a near-anorexic build from sneaking food to Armadillomon over the past three years. Not to say that the school had been starving the students by any means but... with two mouths to feed, even the largest dinner for one wouldn't put meat on ones bones. His hair had grown out slightly, and now laid about a quarter inch below his brow. He had a habit of running his hand over his bangs, futilely trying to keep them out of his vision. He wore a small tie in the back of his hair whenever he sparred, which served to remedy his hair problems and also made it easier for him to move quickly without risking the hair obscuring his vision. He had retained his previous fashion sense, and still wore only plain colors, without decoration besides the colors and shirt boarders.  
  
He was currently hauling a small arm bag over his right shoulder, and inside was a small present for Ken and his family. His O-ka-san's insistence on manners still prevailed over his life, and he would never dream of entering the Ichijouji residence without the customary family present, especially since he had not called previously to inform Ken of his arrival. He marched up the three flights of stairs to Ken's third story apartment and softly knocked on their door. He waited a few moments before finally deciding they were not home. Iori turned, preparing to leave and return the next day. As he turned, the door slowly slid open, revealing a small trickle of blood lying on the floor just inside. Without thinking, Iori pushed the door way aside and revealed an elderly woman's body, thoroughly dead.  
  
A/N: Yes... I know... god awfully short. I should explain the body though... No, I is not Ken's O-Ka-san... I decided it would be better to kill off an "extended family member, so I chose to use an imaginary aunt. Also please do not fear... The next chapter should be up by the end of this week.... if nothing happens. 


	2. Green bundles and red doors

Iori Hida backed away slowly from the now opened door as several thoughts ran through his head. The first thing that came coherently forward was his need to call the police. He dashed over to the phone and quickly dialed 110 (The Japanese equivalent of 911). As he waited to be connected with the police homicide division he realized his first two mistakes when entering the scene. His first mistake was moving the door aside to get a better look at the woman currently slumped against the back of the door. His second mistake had been running into the apartment without first removing his shoes. Not only did this clash with his O-Kaa-sans years of etiquette programming, it also meant he had contaminated the crime scene as he had made several dirty tracks from the door to the table he now stood at. He groaned inwardly as he thought of how many questions he'd end up having to answer, and also how much his O-san-san would be disappointed in him... as he had already seemed to have in an instant drug his family name into a murder.  
  
He managed to fumble through his talk with an officer who had identified himself only as "Heino", and after carefully moving to a different room of the apartment, managed to slump down against a bed. As he scanned the relatively clean room he instantly recognized it as his friends Ken's. He looked at the orderly stacks of books, most having something to do with psychology, and as his stare meandered around the room, his eyes finally fell upon a small greenish lump huddled next to the bed. Curious, he bent down to see what said lump actually was, and as he drew closer, the small object began to shake violently and move further under Ken's bed. Iori had a deep suspicion as to exactly what said lump was then, and getting onto his hands and knees, drew out the bundled and gagged Wormmon.  
  
Iori had to struggle to keep his emotions in check as he untied the still- struggling green Worm. Finally, he managed to drag the mask away from Wormmon's mouth and eyes, and as the terror stricken Digimon finally began to realize exactly where he was and with whom, he ceased struggling. The small green Digimon instantly changed, from terror stricken to hysterical, as he hugged Iori violently and began to babble about how he had been caught by surprise and how worried he was for Ken's sake. As Iori struggled to calm the small Digimon, a sudden pounding on the apartments doorway signaled that either the killer had returned and was trying to be excessively polite towards the corpse inside, or more likely, the police had finally arrived. Iori quietly stuffed Wormmon into his small backpack, making it even more cramped what with Armadillomon's already bulky body lying inside, and went to answer the door.  
  
Moving over the bloody pool that had formed on the floor, Iori reached a shaking and to open the door, trying to avoid moving the body as much as possible. As he opened the door, he was glad to see the familiar Japanese police uniform he had been trained from birth to gravitate towards during times of danger. The officer made a short courteous bow towards the young teen, and then moved around the door to inspect the body. Iori was set aback by the officer's quick manner as he produced a camera and began quickly snapping off pictures of the deceased and the surrounding area, including the small pool that had formed near Iori's feet. Iori immediately felt self-conscious about the fact that he was still wearing shoes inside of the Ichijouji apartment, and when the officer politely asked him to move outside, Iori readily agreed, and grabbing his small pack, moved to just outside of the apartments door.  
  
Thinking quickly, Iori slowly and quietly unzipped his pack and motioned for the two Digimon hiding inside to leave the pack. He suspected he would be the first person suspected for the act, as he had been the person conveniently on scene when the police had arrived. Armadillomon slowly nudged Wormmon out of the pack, and while continually pressuring the smaller Digimon that everything would be all right, lead him off and down a nearby fleet of stairs. Iori as just re-zipping his pack when a loud thud was heard from inside the apartment, shortly followed by a rather loud string of expletives.  
  
Even after three years of study in Hokkaido could not erase Ken Ichijouji's eerily familiar voice, as the elder teen slowly emerged from the apartment, walking with a light waver. Iori immediately went to his side, cradling his older friend, trying to coax him to sit down. As Iori managed to get him comfortable, the police office that had been investigating the scene entered the hallway, and slowly knelt beside Ken and Iori. "Now... why don't you both sit down and tell me exactly what happened in there?" The officer asked slowly, as he helped Ken sit down.  
  
A/N: Hmmm... might not be much from me in the near future... I'm being bogged down with both work and health complications (including an operation my doctor wants me to undergo.) Also the officers name Is taken from the Most frightening Folk singer I have ever seen. the German folk singer Heino. 


End file.
